Two turnovers in four-down territory and a special teams mistake before halftime proved crucial in a 39-36 loss to South Johnston at Hardy Talton Stadium on a cool, crisp Friday evening.

"That's the nature (of football) when two good teams get together," said Pinkowski. "A turnover or judgment call by the official is going to make the difference in the game. Hat's off to my guys because they were game, they were out-sized all night long ... climbing tall trees to defend passes and such.

"The physical mismatches were there."

The Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference rivals battled through 12 lead changes and combined for 900-plus yards of total offense.

Aycock quarterback Tyler Farmer spread 22 completions and 276 yards among five receivers, and threw a career-best four touchdown passes. South Johnston's Michael Booker finished 19-of-30 for 280 yards and three TDs.

Farmer and Booker each rushed for a touchdown.

"We kept driving ... offense kept moving the ball. That's two weeks in a row we've put up 35 or more points and we're going to play behind that," said Pinkowski. "Two turnovers in the red zone and a special teams mistake ... you can't have that against good football teams, especially in a tight ballgame like we had tonight."

The Golden Falcons and Trojans combined to score on their first six possessions. A fumble halted an Aycock drive early in the second quarter, but South Johnston failed to cash in when kicker Aaron Hall booted a 20-yard field goal wide right.

Just 16 seconds later, the Trojans regained the lead on Quentin Williams' 75-yard kickoff return.

"Huge," said Pinkowski of Williams' run.

Each team tallied a third-quarter touchdown.

Farmer's 6-yard strike to Craig Murdock, who accounted for 121 yards of total offense, put Aycock back in front 36-32 early in the final quarter.

The Trojans marched into the Golden Falcons' red zone and appeared to be in trouble when Marquis Bryant batted down Booker's third-down pass at the 22. But an offsides penalty allowed the Trojans to keep possession and eventually score on Booker's 11-yard touchdown pass to Crumity -- which went right through the hands of an Aycock linebacker.

"That slant pass ...," said Pinkowski. "I got to go rub my lucky horseshoe or something. One of these days, those bounces are going to our way ... boost us to the victory."

The Golden Falcons took the ensuing kickoff and Farmer orchestrated an eight-play drive to the Trojans' 15-yard line. He completed a key fourth-down, 11-yard pass to Murdock over the middle to keep the drive alive.

But South Johnston picked off Farmer in the end zone and erased the final 5:42 off the clock to seal the road win.